Comments on: The Five Worst Modern Red Sox Seasonshttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/
Daily baseball statistical analysis and commentaryTue, 03 Mar 2015 20:35:10 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1By: a man named stevehttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3222030
Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:42:01 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3222030This is by expectation one of the worst years in my memory. I have followed the Sox since the late 50’s, the team was awful, putrid, the stadium was considered an albatross at the time, attendance was often under 10,000. There was little to cheer about, but there were zero expectations or excitement either. The debacle that is the 2012 Sox season is a product of overreaction to 2011 collapse, terrible construction of the team by the GM. The clubhouse was lost early on, and overpaid players pouted and feuded with a manager whose and temperament they were not accustomed to. Tito lost perspective in Sept,2011, but he didn’t realize it til too late. I like the salary dump though, and perhaps a fresh roster ad leadership in 2013 puts us back in contention.
]]>By: designated quitterhttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3218115
Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:05:40 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3218115I thought that the Modern Era began in 1920, after the Black Sox Scandal and the end of the Dead Ball Era. Silly me. I would also have accepted 1975, the beginning of the Free Agent Era. The problems with using 1955, when the Red Sox integrated, are twofold- first, the era began sooner, when everyone else had integrated. Why reward the Red Sox for failing to join the era? Second, and more to the point, is that bad teams before integration mostly stayed bad, and well- run teams remained good. It didn’t really usher in a different era in terms of how the game was played. Further, by the same token, the Latin Era, beginning in the late ’60s or early ’70s, was at least as important to the quality of play as integration of black players was before. Not culturally, just in terms of raising the quality of play.

The Red Sox ‘modern’ era could also be said to begin with the demise of Tom Yawkey, the most- beloved hideously incompetent owner in the history of the game. His death coincides with the end of the nepotism, alcoholism, old- boyism, and every other poor – management- ism that Red Sox fans came to call “The Curse.”

]]>By: Stevehttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3217516
Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:36:56 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3217516“This season has been no different, and while doom and gloom sells newspapers in New England”….Do people in New England still buy newspapers? How retro.
]]>By: Greg Whttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3215268
Sun, 09 Sep 2012 23:29:37 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3215268You know, if you arbitrarily change criteria and endpoints, you can prove a) the other guy is wrong and b) now is the worst anything has ever been.
]]>By: ESPNhttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3212079
Sat, 08 Sep 2012 21:24:26 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3212079The Yankees and the Red Sox are not primary rivals, you say? You lie!
]]>By: Joey Bhttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3211361
Sat, 08 Sep 2012 15:37:36 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3211361You started with a poor premise. The modern age of RS BB started in 1967. Before then, they were barely even considered a BB town.

So if you start with a model based on 1967, 1992 is the only season that comes close. And if you looked at the starting 9, you’d hardly be surprised at our record. An OF of of Bruno, Zupcic, and Hatcher, a SS named Luis Rivera, and 35+ players in Clark and Pena, plus a couple of prospects.

There is nothing to compare to 2012.

]]>By: Bob R.http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3211026
Sat, 08 Sep 2012 13:21:58 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3211026By your criteria, the seasons you mention might be the worst. But if worst has a more qualitative connotation, I think 2012 probably fits better. Those seasons may have been terrible in terms of performance, but not necessarily in terms of hopes dashed and embarrassment due to downright nasty stories about the players, manager and ownership.

Recent history has obscured two facts about the Red Sox. One is that they have few periods as a serious contender and two is that they have not been the primary rival of the Yankees.

From 1903-1918 they won 4 World Series. Rarely were the Yankees contending then. For the next 20 years, while NY became a dynasty, Boston was terrible. In the late 30s they developed some stars and tried to supplement them by buying talent like Grove and Foxx, but remained a minor threat to NY. It was only after WWII that they briefly fought it out with the Yankees, but after 1951 they sank back into mediocrity for another 15 years. Yankee fans barely noticed them. The poor teams you mention in the 1960s were simply that, not disgraceful, just bad-like recent Mariner or Astro teams. Their fans may have been unhappy, but there was no national story about it.

From 1967 on, Boston’s fortunes varied, but until 1978, when the Red Sox were good, NY was generally bad, so again the rivalry did not exist. Of course, 1978 changed that, but only briefly as it wasn’t really until the last 10 or so years that both teams took center stage nationally. It is this somewhat artificial rivalry and national focus that makes this 2012 such a miserable season for the Red Sox.

I cannot speak for other Yankee fans except a few friends, but I became a NYY fan around 1951 as a very young child, and until 1978 took almost no notice of Boston. Even after that season, we (my friends and I) had no particular feeling about the Red Sox; in fact, as an AL fan I rooted for them in the 1986 World Series. Since 2000 or so, I have been force fed this rivalry, and recognize what a debacle the year has been for Boston.

]]>By: gnomezhttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3210473
Sat, 08 Sep 2012 08:59:22 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3210473Yes! On another note, I’d be interested to see how many Tigers and Pirates seasons finished in the 1000s.
]]>By: Mainerhttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3209438
Sat, 08 Sep 2012 02:03:11 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3209438I’m a Red Sox fan, but have little memory of the seasons Paul mentions. The two worst seasons, far and away, were 1986 (Calvin Schiraldi was the real goat) and 1978 (Bucky bleeping Dent).

2012 is disappointing, but nowhere near as painful as last year. And on the bright side, Bobby V won’t be back next year.

]]>By: JGhttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-five-worst-modern-red-sox-seasons/#comment-3209068
Fri, 07 Sep 2012 23:29:18 +0000http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/?p=98162#comment-3209068I was going to ask when Cleveland was getting its good karma for being the first AL team to integrate. But then I remembered all the racism associated with the Cleveland Indians.
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